Q FOR LANDLORDS...We have to evict someone for not paying rent- do you have any advice?

Question

We own a 4 bed flat (other than our home) and one of the tenants has not paid their rent this month or last month.

We have been chasing her for about 6 weeks now but she keeps stalling.

She owes us £635 and we really need this money- we have 2 huge mortgages and are simply not in the position to cover this sort of deficit.

We were thinking of going to the flat with a written letter of notice of eviction and taking a friend along as a witness (so she can't deny having received the letter).

Would it be ok to do this or do you have any other tips?

Many thanks!!

Answer 1

It's a very straightforward process.

You serve a notice seeking possession in accordance with the tenancy agreement.

You then apply to the local county court, they have a fast track simple system for landlords to recover possession of residential property.

They grant the order and a money judgement for the rent outstanding.

If the tenant does not move out, you can ask for a warrant and the bailiffs will come along and physically throw her out, if needs be.

Answer 2

The correct way is ti send her a letter by recorded Delivery to say she has to pay her rent upp to date or you will seek an eviction notice.

If after 2 weeks she makes no reply, Then you send a second letter to say that if she still continues to withold your rent, then you will have to apply for an eviction order through the County court.

If the Matter does come before a Court, even then the Court will decide if she can pay the arrears off by monthly Payments plus the normal monthly rent. If she agrees to this, then the Court will make an order against her for that. So she still remains at the property until she gets into arrears again. Then you have to go back to the Courts and declare that she is in Contempt of a Court order. But Remember, there is nothing stopping her from Doing a Moonlight flit and pay you nothing. This is one of the Hazards of renting to People.  

Answer 3

You have to give her a letter stating that she owes you x amount of money and give her 7 days to pay, then if that fails then you must get an independent witness to give her the eviction notice. or go and get a solicitor to write a letter of eviction! I am assuming she is under contract.Remember if you evict her yourselves you must get an independent witness!

Answer 4

1.  Has she got a tenancy?  Even if she doesn`t you cannot evict her, you must go through the courts. (Scottish Law).  You can ask her to leave, which she may do, but if she doesn`t there is nothing you can do except take legal action against her.  This takes time, before you do anything get some legal advice or you could end up on the wrong side of the law. Be very careful as the law is in favour of the tenant and not the landlord.

Answer 5

check your position regarding the deposit.  In England, if the deposit has not been paid into a government approved scheme, your rights are restricted ie, she has to be at least two months in arrears to guarantee getting her out.  Also, if she does go to court and claim her deposit back the court could order you to pay back three times the deposit.  Your best bet might be to wait for the rent to be more than two months behind and then go ahead with court action without informing her first.  If she is still two months behind at the time of the court hearing the judge has no choice but to issue eviction notices.   Might not be the same in Scotland but check it out!!